'The Ring CurrentThe third component of near-Earth space is the ring current which overlaps both the Van Allen belts and the plasmasphere from 8,000 to 30,000 kilometers from Earth. Ring current particles carry energies of several thousand volts, but unlike Saturn's rings, they do not flow in a complete ring around Earth. It is more prominent on the night time side of Earth, and it is at its strongest, carrying the most particles, during severe solar storm events which shake Earth's magnetosphere. This current of particles carries enough energy to actually change the strength of Earth's magnetic field even at ground level, especially in the equatorial regions. Although Van Allen belt particles are probably captured from the solar wind, and plasmasphere particles probably come from the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, the origin of the ring current particles is something of a scientific mystery. Scientists don't fully understand where they come from, or how they get energized to such high voltages within the magnetosphere'. [link to ds9.ssl.berkeley.edu] Let the 'We live in a Star' threads commence : )